PRETTY THINGS Parachute UK 70 Harvest N/M Promo Pre-EMI

	£		63
	$		83

Hi, I am Mike, I have been a music collector for over 30 years now. I always still try to offer the finest and most accurately described and graded records I can find - I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any interested collector. You may notice I only submit one or two items a day for Ebay; time rarely allows more as I Play-Grade every record I offer (on a Rega 3 deck with Ortofon cartridge) - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story - I will mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested collector. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same - just because an item is rare does not always mean its good. A ten pounds record that plays close to new is as important to the collector as a 250 pound record that plays less well. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programmes. What you see is what you get. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps or sticks or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Good luck.

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Artist or Band: PRETTY THINGS

Album Title: Parachute

Cat Number: SHVL 774 Stereo (Not issued in mono). Factory sample promo, a pre-EMI copy with the prized 1G / 1G stamper codes.

Label and Condition: Harvest, classic yellow and green format, and no EMI logos. Beautiful clean examples of this most famous progressive label, that show only very light and faint spindle traces and zero wear around the centre hole. A copy hardly played on all this evidence. This is a totally genuine Harvest Factory Sample, the sticker is consistent, its almost transparent and hides nothing, its fresh and clean and has never been picked or removed, I had a few of these before, they are always the same. This copy was given to a ex-Radio One DJ of the late 60s/early 70s. (Please see label scans for all information needed, have you seen Harvests much cleaner than this?).

Country of Manufacture: Gt Britain.

Rarity: Getting very scarce now, this one is really in demand and even catching up SF Sorrow Genre Type: Progressive rock, hints of psych.

Original Year of Release: June 1970

Matrix Nos: SHVL 774 A2 and B2. The tiny stamper codes are 1G and 1G. Possibly a first of the pressing line.

Brief Artist & Album Info: From the first fractured riffs that immediately get under the skin you will know what to expect from this stunning progressive classic - for me its equals, at least, SF Sorrow and deservedly is now regarded on par with that conceptual masterpiece. Copies of Parachute as an original pre-EMI format are like many of the early Harvest albums, getting extremely hard to find now, in fact this was the only album the band recorded on Harvest. A celebrity promo copy will be near impossible to find elsewhere. Like SF Sorrow this sold only modestly and finding this one at all now is a challenge and finding near mint copies will never, ever be easy. This fine set has a strong, clean cover, near perfect and missing those annoying creases the front especially always seems to pick up. The actual record is sensational and is pretty much mark free. If the album’s beginning is memorable, the end is unforgettable, for those who have not heard this album it ends with a tone that simply works its way up the pitch scale until the frequency eventually disappears from the range of human hearing, but I suggest you dont play to the pet dog, it will drive him nuts. The great thing about this copy too is that finalé phase plays just about perfectly with no unwanted noise or sounds. This is a truly lovely, almost unique copy that should please most collectors, the vinyl and cover are exceptional, as is this masterful progressive experience. – Mike.

Cover Condition and Details: EX++, and tempted to say Mint(-), its a gatefold format, laminated front and back. Designed by Hipgnosis and printed in Great Britain. One of the Harvest classic covers, the eerie child on the highway against the blood red sky backdrop. This has so little wear this is really undergraded at EX++. Finding the front face so devoid of creasing is a massive bonus.

Cover Lamination: Both sides are similar: Generally very shiny with few marks. the odd surface trace or light dull mark maybe but this is being critical. Normal viewing shows a superb laminate finish. No peeling or dry areas and just about the only crease is a small one on the front bottom right corner and that is only very light indeed and hardly even shows. I have never seen an original Parachute cover this uncreased and nice looking. Its clean and unworn and has no dreaded ringwear, this often appears on this thin ply front (and back). This laminate will not be bettered easily on this album.

Cover Front: Attractive and has real atmosphere, as stated a great Hipgnosis cover design. This one is clean and almost unworn. This cover front is strong and retains a high degree of freshness. The artwork is very dark and unblemished under that strong laminate. A real nice one.

Cover Back: Similar to front, little to separate, both nice.

Cover Gatefold Inner: Superb, rich and dark finish with no rubbing to the b/w band pictures. This will be impossible to find better.

Top Edge: Unworn.

Bottom Edge: Light rub traces.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp with little wear. Record entered on right outside back edge.

Spine and Text: Solid and square with little wear, no text was printed on this one, laminate is uncracked and solid.

Corners: Most are near wear free and all still nicely shaped.

Cover Summary: A fine all round example of this fragile early-70’s cover, one that could prove near impossible to find significantly better. This super item should please most collectors, even the connoisseurs.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: Mint(-), and probably even better really. A stunning copy that is super clean and shiny, jet black and pressed on robust, solid vinyl. A copy that shows nothing more than the very faintest of faint surface traces under angled light, but even this is being hyper-critical. This looks pretty sensational. Record comes in its original lined patented inner. Unsplit and clean, minor ruffling only on one corner.

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: Yes this plays as good as it looks too, a superb clean copy. Brilliantly produced by Norman Smith (Piper at the Gates of Dawn by Pink Floyd fame - their psych masterpiece). Beautifully pressed with few, to no surface sounds, pops or ticks from memory, this copy will never be beaten easily, impossible I would say. All evidence points to a copy hardly played, the sounds are pin sharp and distortion free, as exemplified by that famous ending with the high frequency workout. Any sound degrading here would destroy the whole effect, the same goes for the bombastic splintered riff at the beginning. Both channels are clean and detailed and stereo imagery is magnificent. Believe me no enhanced CD will ever better this sound, again this gem made my Rega deck sound stunning, this is how Norman Smith wanted this to sound, and like Piper original vinyl is the only way to fully appreciate an album like this. At times some intense sounds, especially for an album this age, but all songs track superbly and effortlessly - I recently picked another copy of this one that skips several grooves in places - a copy clearly played on an unsatisfactory deck and has suffered accordingly - I refuse to undermine this album by offering such a copy. This one is a wonderful example that could be near impossible to better, so again, dont even think about losing this lovely record - they come along all too infrequently now in this condition. And, oh yes, its a genuine factory sample ‘promo’ copy, for that famous DJ.

Mono vs Stereo, an overview: Always a matter of opinion which is better or more important. For any serious collector where there is a choice e.g. Beatles, Stones, Hendrix etc. both are essential. True Stereo albums give great imagery and presence whereas mono albums usually are more dynamic, louder and present the detail more clearly. Mono albums are far harder to find in genuinely top playing condition. Most were heavily played, particularly the truly great bands and artists, often covered in mark and scratches, many severe and labels that were a mass of spindle marks. The majority were played on vintage and unsubtle decks with heavy tonearms and thick styli (often sapphire, not diamond, that chipped more easily) that rendered heavy wear in a very short time to many a fine classic record. Wear to the delicate groove walls, particularly the innermost tracks to the labels were most vulnerable where the tracking angle became more severe and the backdrag actually stripped the delicate groove walls. This resulted in surface noise and mild/moderate distortion or worse. These old decks tracked by sheer weight and little of any refined engineering. Next time you see such a deck at a local record fayre, feel the weight of the arm, it almost makes you wonder how any records survived at all. The point of this paragraph is emphasise that when a truly clean, lightly played and great sounding 60s mono album (or stereo come to that) is offered, treasure it, because for sure they are truly getting vary rare and precious - beware - demand only play-graded records. As a general guide to rarity, mono was the far more common format from 61–65; Around 66–67 the balance was roughly equal, then from 68-69 the balance swung heavily to stereo, making monos from these dates far scarcer, even rare - this guide is important and effects values greatly.

Track Listing: Scene One: The Good Mr Square; She was tall, She was high; In the Square: The Letter; Rain; Miss Fay Regrets; Cries from the Midnight Circus; Grass; Sickle Clowns; She’s a Lover; What’s the Use; Parachute.

Album Played For Grading: Yes.

Final Summary: A pretty special one this, a definite one-off. 1G/1G stampers on Harvest classics are highly desirable viewed on a near mint record to is very unusual. This too would be quite hard to find as a pre-EMI copy, by this time the small boxed EMI logo was just around the corner so I doubt even if too many of these exist without it. Not everybody took to The Pretty Things playing progressive music but preferred their RnB earlier works, it was only after some time opinions changed, this did not sell well so this copy with all the trimmings will be extra special for the serious Harvest collector. Dont lose this one, it wont ever show up again quite like this again. – Mike.

Payment Details please read carefully:

UK First Class: = £2.50; Recorded Delivery (Recommended) = £4.00 Special Delivery (Next day, insured up to £250), the best service available = £6.00

Europe Air Mail: = £4 Insured: £8.00

Overseas, non-Europe e.g. USA, Japan, Australia etc. Airmail:= £7; Insured with recorded delivery (where available) = £11.00

Singles: (Packed to the high standards of the LPs)

UK First class: = £2.00 Insured: £4

Europe Air Mail = £3.00 Insured: £5.50

Overseas, non-Europe (as above) Airmail £3.50 Insured: £6.00

Any item that sells for over £85 will be sent Special Delivery in the UK at no extra cost. Items over £125 get the same service Overseas. This is gives peace of mind for the winning bidder and myself for valuable items.

The winner bidder chooses his/her posting method and if uninsured is chosen, its their decision and they have to stick with it, I can accept no responsibility if an item is lost in the post. I can only try to claim at standard levels if no enhancement is chosen (£28). PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT use surface mail, its too slow, with a higher risk of loss and damage.

Mailing Details: Please note I do not profit on postage (my packing standards are high and the package weighs a little more. All records are sent in plastic covers with the record taken out of the sleeve and sent in professional mailers with FOUR professional stiffners for extra protection (if space allows), I do NOT use old cardboard boxes or cereal packets for protection. More expensive items are also inserted into a de-luxe heavy duty padded bag AS WELL to give that extra protection. I truly want ALL my items to arrive to their destination in the same condition they leave me. I will also include in most cases a brand new lined inner, but will include the original inner if available and in a condition to be given.

I accept cash for payments worldwide in UK Pounds Sterling, Euros or US Dollars - but this at the senders own risk. Please send registered and insured if this method is chosen. I cannot accept responsibility if any cash payments do not turn up. This system is very reliable and rarely goes astray. The same goes for any shipped uninsured item, I can only try to claim for any undelivered or damaged article at basic insurance levels if no enhanced insurance is requested and paid for (unless the value threshold is high enough for me insure as standard, see above)

Overseas bidders please note conversion rates for Pounds to Dollars and Pounds to Euros will be charged at 1.7 to cover PayPal or cash conversion costs.

PLEASE NOTE: Any PayPal user can now pay me with UK Sterling if they wish with no need to convert to US dollars (although they still can if they wish to). Any instant PayPal transaction from anywhere in the world will mean the item will be sent immediately - it makes deals fast and very efficient.

Potential Bidders: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. I now only accept PayPal, International money orders or cash from overseas bidders (UK Sterling, US dollars or Euros). Cash, cheques, postal orders and PayPal are fine from the UK. I allow maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if this does not happen I will relist the item and may send negative feedback unless an explanation is given. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask. Please keep watch on my Ebays, I have other interesting items coming very soon. Thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: As listening to every single record I offer all the way through is difficult timewise, can I make it clear if any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund minus the Posting and All Ebay costs as long as the item detail has been read and understood. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer. I still endeavour to play all the items in their entirity for grading if at all possible and is usually the case.